Keteltut the Warrior
Origins The origins and early life of Keteltut are largely surrounded by mystery and legend, as most of the Precursor era was. Several legends outline the adventures of Keteltut, and nearly all of them agree, as do historical records, that Keteltut was the one who drove the giant beasts from Catavere and made it so that the men, elves, and early dwarves of the air could live more peacefully. Myths and Legends One account passed on by word of mouth from the bard Hoken of Chott told that Keteltut was born of the silt of lake Gantua, when the ancient wizard Alhalnar made a golem from the lake silt and gave it life. The creation was called Alhaketh, meaning "of Alha" in the Vulan tongue. Alhaketh became the protector of Alhalnar, as the lands between Lake Gantua and the Long Navi were not safe in those days. Now Alhalnar was a wicked sorcerer, and traveled what is now southern Ellendwell wreaking havoc, leading bands of conjurers in raids, summoning servants of the Dhrellor from the Sacred Realm, and robbing poor villages. Hoken's tale tells in the city-state of Celoure, Alhalnar murdered an elven sorcerer who had been a long time rival, in a duel. For this the Celourian soldiers came to arrest Alhalnar, who resisted. The city's court-wizard, Drorios Athel, along with the soldiers defeated the evil Alhalnar and his servant Alhaketh. It is said in Hoken's tale that before Alhalnar died he used the last of his power to defend Alhaketh, even though he was his servant. Both were slain that night. On the morning of the next day, in Hoken's tale, Alhaketh woke outside the city, no longer under the control of Alhalnar. After being saved by the love of his master, the love of a wicked man, he was born again anew, this time a selfless human man, rather than an evil golem. He took a new name, Keteltut, meaning "saved one" and began his own journey around Catavere, traveling north through the Ethereal Wood and into what would later be known as Belthiel. There he would no longer be tied to his past. In the forest he fell in love with a satyr princess, and courted her. When the dark elf king Enimac tried to cleanse the Ethereal Wood and had the princess along with many others taken prisoner, Keteltut tracked her down and rescued her, and had his famous duel with King Enimac, also believed to be mostly historically true. After saving the Wood Lett and defeating Enimac, Keteltut took it upon himself to rid the world from any threat to his bride and her people. At this time the giant beasts were terrorizing the Wood Lett, so he decided to drive them out. At the climax of Hoken's third tale Keteltut banished all the giant beasts from Catavere, from the Long Navi to the Grey Marsh, and even from the lands that would later be inhabited by Men, Algoria, Gillia, Alunland, and Valsindor, and all the lands contained within the Kadd Mountain range. He became a hero in Catavere, especially in the eyes of the Lett. Only in Celoure and southeastern Ellendwell was he not regarded as a hero, as they still remembered that he had been a servant of Alhalnar. Though Hoken's take on Keteltut takes place during real events, such as Enimac's cleansing of the Ethereal Wood and the duel between Alhalnar and the elven sorcerer in Celoure, some scholars' beliefs contrast with those of Hoken's tale. According to the records of the Order of Vula, the guild of mages and alchemists in Celoure, they were founded by the ancient wizard Alhalnar, who was a respected individual in those days. Their belief is that his rival had been a threat to the Order, trying to destroy it from the inside due to their opposing beliefs on necromancy and communications with Dhrelloric beings such as the Djinn, and had been rightly and fairly defeated. They have no record of Alhaketh or of a battle against the city guard. This, however, contrasts with the records of the city of Celoure, who have documented a siege upon the Order's building in the city. These records however don't mention Alhaketh either, nor do they have record of the rival wizard, just that guild members attacked citizens in Celoure. Very old records in Sralmouth report frequent raids by the Men of the North on the coastal cities of Belthiel. One ancient Northmen legend tells the tale of how during the old days when the Northmen raided the elven cities of Catavere, the elves once set up an ambush and trapped the raiders and captured a few and drove the rest off. One Northman captured was called Throða, and the elven "tricksters" and the Northmen called them, tried to then turn Thro''ð''a against his people in order to defeat the raiders. He refused to talk. The next time the raiders came they stormed the prison and tore Throða apart to prevent him from talking. They then looted the city as they had always done. An old manuscript written by a Sralmouth jailor around the time recorded that during a Northmen raid they stormed the prison and attacked the prisoner. the record stated that the prisoner defeated the raiders with his bare hands and escaped the prison. The jailor was hiding and was not found by the invaders. It is believed by many scholars that the record written by the jailor spoke of the same man from the legend and that the Northmen had changed their story to make themselves more fearsome to any possible defectors. Now according to the legend of another storyteller believed to be Othel, son of Bothern, a man from the Far North, with pale skin and a golden bears came to the city of Aur. The people of the city called him Peltettyw, which means "blizzard," though his true name was never known. According to Othel's legend, a giant beast called Korioth had been attacking farms and villages around Aur for some time. The people lived in fear of the beast and were searching for a hero to vanquish the monster. Peltettyw trapped Korioth in its cave with a massive boulder. This, however, did not work, as Korioth managed to shove the boulder out of the way. So Peltettyw had to fight the , but his sword could not pierce the monster's flesh. It is said that Peltettyw summoned a blizzard, the Winds of the North, and froze Korioth. He tore off the monster's frostbitten arm with his bare hands and it ran away and slowly died in its lair. Peltettyw followed Korioth and found its hoard of gold and jewels, and sitting amongst the pile was a glorious stone; the Sigil of Valor, and Peltettyw took it and gave it to the King of Aur. The Sigil still sits in the city castle hall. Eventually, over many years, Peltettyw changed to Keteltut as the language changed, and this became the legend of Keteltut. Othel told that after vanquishing the great Korioth, he continued to cleanse Catavere of all the giant beasts that threatened its people. He also was said to have returned to Sralmouth and helped the elves defeat the Northmen and stop the Northern raids for some several centuries.